Daily Archives: November 29, 2020

COVID-19 has further exposed the failures of a linear take-make-waste use of the worlds resources, and highlighted the need for a more circular reduce-redesign-reuse approach, according to a new study.

A group of researchers led by the UKs University of Warwick concluded that a circular economy could help the world recover from the pandemic, while also helping nations reach net-zero carbon emissions goals.

All industries can and should adopt a circular economy, says Dr Taofeeq Ibn-Mohammed, assistant professor in the Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG), with strategies adapted to each sector.

The global population is expected to reach close to 9 billion people by 2030 inclusive of 3 billion new middle-class consumers.This places unprecedented pressure on natural resources to meet future consumer demand.

A circular economy is an industrial system that is restorative or regenerative by intention and design. It replaces the end-of-life concept with restoration, shifts towards the use of renewable energy, eliminates the use of toxic chemicals and aims for the elimination of waste through the superior design of materials, products, systems and business models.

Nothing that is made in a circular economy becomes waste, moving away from our current linear take-make-dispose economy. The circular economys potential for innovation, job creation and economic development is huge: estimates indicate a trillion-dollar opportunity.

The World Economic Forum has collaborated with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation for a number of years to accelerate the Circular Economy transition through Project MainStream - a CEO-led initiative that helps to scale business driven circular economy innovations.

Join our project, part of the World Economic Forums Shaping the Future of Environment and Natural Resource Security System Initiative, by contacting us to become a member or partner.

More resource-efficient construction

In construction, for example, retrofitting, refurbishing or repairing existing buildings leads to lower emission facilities, is less resource-intensive and more cost-effective than demolition and new construction.

Digital infrastructure technologies such as thermographic and infrared surveys, 3D laser scanning and digital twinning creating virtual models of processes, products or services will play a crucial role in ensuring the low carbon and energy-efficient future of the built environment, the authors say.

Less wasteful food sector

Circular economy strategies could help create a more sustainable and secure food sector.

These include regenerative agriculture approaches such as using food waste to replenish nutrients in the soil. Anaerobic digestion can be used to create biogas from organic nutrients. Urban agriculture cultivating crops and animals for food in and around cities is another circular opportunity.

The authors cite the increased popularity of local farms as a direct consequence of COVID-19, suggesting that people could experience the power of local food cycles and avoid perceived contamination risks in supermarkets.

Companies can boost their resilience against future pandemics like COVID-19 by using disruptive digital technologies or smart manufacturing tools.

Big data analytics, for example, can help companies streamline their supplier selection processes. Cloud-computing is currently being used to facilitate and manage supplier relationships. And logistics and shipping processes can be greatly enhanced through automation and the internet of things the world of connected devices.

The Warwick team urges 'circular thinking' that targets the general well-being of the populace instead of a focus on boosting the competitiveness, profitability or growth of businesses and national economies.

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation recently set out 10 circular investment opportunities across five key sectors.

Image: Ellen MacArthur Foundation

10 circular investment opportunities

The World Economic Forum is a supporter of The Ellen MacArthur Foundation, which works to accelerate the worlds transition to a circular economy. The foundation recently set out 10 circular investment opportunities across five key sectors: the built environment, fashion, plastic packaging, food and mobility.

In an unprecedented response to the COVID-19 crisis, trillions in economic stimulus have been made available around the world, the foundation says, pointing out that this moment in time is a rare opportunity to build a resilient and low-carbon recovery. The circular economy, as an instrument to decouple economic growth from resource use and environmental impact, opens up the way for a resilient recovery.

The Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Scotland, Denmark and Finland are among the nations pushing forward circular economy agendas.

For example, the Netherlands has a government-wide programme to achieve a circular Dutch economy by 2050.

Denmark is investing 16 million ($19 million) across 15 initiatives as part of a national circular economy strategy.

Scotland also has a circular economy strategy and already employs more than 200,000 people 8.1% of jobs in circular economy-related roles.

More than 40 countries, companies and international organizations work together to accelerate the transition to a circular economy as members of the Platform for Accelerating the Circular Economy (PACE).

Launched in 2017 by the World Economic Forum, the PACE community consists of 80 public, private, international and civil society executive leaders and more than 200 members championing 18 projects across the globe.

The World Economic Forum has created the Scale360 Playbook to build lasting ecosystems for the circular economy and help solutions scale.

Scale360 Playbook Journey

Image: Scale360 Playbook

Its unique hub-based approach - launched this September - is designed to prioritize circular innovation while fostering communities that allow innovators from around the world to share ideas and solutions. Emerging innovators from around the world can connect and work together ideas and solutions through the UpLink, the Forum's open innovation platform.

Discover how the Scale360 Playbook can drive circular innovation in your community.

Excerpt from:

Cutting waste and going 'circular' could help economies out of COVID slump - World Economic Forum

Chemicals are present in 95 percent of manufactured goods, from simple everyday items to hi-tech applications. From wind turbines to electric vehicles, the chemical industry plays a crucial role in producing technologies and solutions to create a carbon-neutral, resource-efficient and circular society.

In its eight-point Mid Century Vision for the Future of Europe, Cefic presents a view in which the European economy has gone circular, recycling molecules into new materials. Transitioning toward a circular economy can contribute to addressing our global resource challenge, reduce greenhouse gas emissions through better use and reuse of the materials that already exist in the economy, reduce environmental littering, create new meaningful jobs and spur economic growth. The European chemical industry sees itself at the center of the transition and of Europes circular economy. Going more circular means contributing to meeting the Paris Agreement and the broader U.N. 2030 Sustainability Development Goals. We therefore support the European Green Deal and Europes ambition to become climate neutral by 2050.

The European chemical industry sees itself at the center of the transition and of Europes circular economy.

Circular solutions should have an overall positive impact on the environment over their full life cycle. The sector offers solutions to keep materials in the loop as long as technically and economically possible through reuse of materials, extension of lifetime using more durable materials, resource recovery and different types of waste recycling technologies. Additionally, we are increasing the share of alternative feedstock such as CO2/CO through carbon capture and use, and bio-based feedstock. By using more waste-, bio- and CO2-based feedstock and the technologies to efficiently transform them into everyday products, the chemical industry actively supports the bio-based economy.

To meet the ambitious European Green Deal objectives, much more plastic waste needs to be recycled and a broader range of markets needs to be served with recycled content. Of the 30 million tons of end-of-life plastics collected in Europe each year, today 5 million tons make it back into marketable products. The rest is either incinerated, landfilled or exported for recycling. And it is with the rest that we the chemical industry can make the difference. Our innovations contribute to all forms of recycling: mechanical, chemical and organic. We already offer products which increase the performance of mechanically-recycled plastic and are now enabling better tracking and tracing of plastic waste streams. Compostable plastics have a role to play as well, for example when they are used for collection of biowaste. Chemical recycling complements the existing options and its potential to handle plastic waste is huge. Chemical recycling technologies allow use of plastic waste as feedstock to produce new chemicals and plastics. The quality of this kind of plastic is equivalent to those produced from virgin resources, allowing use in higher volumes and in high-quality applications such as food contact and food packaging. Chemical recycling technologies can also help cleaning material cycles as they have the potential to remove legacy chemicals.

To meet the ambitious European Green Deal objectives, much more plastic waste needs to be recycled and a broader range of markets needs to be served with recycled content.

Chemical recycling is not yet a widely deployed option for the recycling of plastic waste. Scale-up requires innovation, harmonized policies, recycling chains and clear pathways to valorize plastic waste that is currently incinerated, landfilled or wasted. The involvement of the entire value chain and a transnational policy framework is key in this respect.

Other examples where the chemical industry plays an important role in the transition to a circular economy include: the use of metals of recycled batteries to produce battery materials offering significant CO2 reduction in the production of electric vehicles; the recycling of wind turbines coming to their end of life; and industrial symbiosis where significant resource savings can be made because of an integrated production approach.

In the transition phase, the chemical industry will gradually have to increase its share of alternative, more sustainable feedstocks. In the beginning, these will only make up a small share of the overall amount of materials processed in our plants. We therefore need to apply mass balance concepts to allocate more sustainable feedstock to final products like renewable electricity is allocated to the consumer willing to pay for a more environmentally friendly option. This approach is a key enabler to allow Europe to develop new circular models.

Chemical recycling technologies allow use of plastic waste as feedstock to produce new chemicals and plastics.

Cefic and its members are ready to take a leading role in accelerating the transition. To be successful in its mission, cooperation on all levels in society is necessary. If Europes many industries and companies are truly enabled to deliver on their innovation strengths such as chemical recycling and are enabled to bring these to the market, we will jointly convert opportunity into success. We are keen to work with European policymakers and governments to have the right framework conditions in place that keep our competitiveness during this transition in clear focus. And governments and industry need to prioritize investments as we cannot have it all.

With the Green Deal and the European Recovery plan, a fund the size of the Marshall plan, funding will be available to support the transition to a climate-neutral, resource-efficient and circular economy. So, the question should not be whether the transition to a circular economy is possible, but how can we do this together, as the money and the necessity are there.

One of the lessons that we learned during the COVID-19 crisis is one of solidarity and unity across Europe where governments, businesses and citizens worked together to achieve a common goal. We must apply that lesson to our transformation to a circular economy: only by working together, can we achieve a Europe that is more sustainable, circular and climate-neutral, which thrives in the global economy.

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How will the chemical industry contribute to the circular economy? - POLITICO.eu

An economist and historian specializing in economic crises from ancient times to the epochs of commercial and modern industrial capitalism. Head of the Institute of a New Society, Lecturer at the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics. In early 2008, he gave a surprisingly accurate analysis of the current crisis, a long-term painful fracture, a major crisis transforming the world economy and the life of society. The forecast of changes caused by the crisis continues to be realised, confirming the theory of cyclicality of big crises. Koltashov headed the drafting of numerous analytical reports. In his book The Crisis of the Global Economy (2009), he spoke about the logic of the first wave of global instability, warning that the crisis will return. In 2013, at the beginning of the second wave of the crisis, the author returned to Russia after six years of analysing the economic catastrophe in Greece. In the same period, he began to study the connection between major crises and the great modernisation revolutions of the era of capitalism. Thus, for the first time, an economic and socio-political analysis of such phases as the restoration and glorious revolution was carried out.

In the 21st century one could observe the rise of democracy. In the 20th century for a long time it also seemed that democracy was developing steadily moving from the formal to the real. However, the big crisis of 1973-1982 led to a historic turn in its fate. Everything turned out to be more complicated than previously thought.

A brief pedigree of democracy

The emergence of democracy was associated with the development of the Greek polis economy. This happened after the dark ages that followed the great economic crisis of the 12th century BC. The old economic system collapsed whereas the new system had not formed yet. It took several centuries of decline and degradation for it to occur. Another great crisis in the 3rd century dealt a severe blow to the municipalities of the Roman Empire with their democratic practices stemming from earlier city states. In history the great and big economic crises (they appeared after the great crisis of the 14th century) had a huge impact on social structures and relations, which are usually associated with the concept of democracy. The era after World War II is no exception. From that time to the present, democracy as a form of power and organisation of social structures has undergone enormous changes.

The concept of democracy is used widely, but is very controversial. It would be much more accurate to speak in most cases about the republican form of state, party and other structures, public consciousness and relations. But the word democracy always remains in fashion in politics, even if it is not created by the social lower strata, but the elite of nations or even the nomenclature of parties. The rejection of its widespread use will cause misunderstanding, although it would be right to treat it with extreme care. Finally, the anarchist extreme is also harmful: the belief that genuine modern government could exist in modern and even earlier socio-economic realities, not burdened by either bureaucracy, professional politicians, or oligarchs (the USA, for example, is an oligarchic republic) nor by faith in leaders and missions.

Democracy in the 21st century, no matter how contradictory this concept is, will eventually bloom. However, its current state and immediate prospects can be estimated only after analysing all the changes that have befallen it. And one should start with the crisis of democracy itself, the way the world knew it in the 20th century. It was in crisis when citizens of the former USSR saw it in its US-European liberal format.

The way 20th century democracy worked

In 1989-1994 alternative elections of heads of state and assembly of deputies, freedom of speech and press seemed the universal rules of democracy to many people in Eastern Europe. They were seen as Western standards, characteristic of a free, open, and pluralistic society. Western Europe and North America themselves seemed standards of freedom, where states flourished in democracy. Have not peoples fought here for broad public freedoms since the 18th century? Did not this struggle have results so attractive to residents of the Eastern bloc countries?

In fact, in the West, as they say in Eastern Europe, a necrosis of what is commonly called representative bourgeois democracy was taking place. No one formally abolished freedoms, like no one abolished many political freedoms in the USSR, but democracy became more and more liberal, even neoliberal, almost one-party, but most importantly, increasingly pushing the bottom away from decision-making. This is not to say that the lower strata did not cut themselves off from participating in governance, supporting neoconservative professional politicians. But most of all, they were cut off by processes in the economy. They reduced industry and the concentration of workers. But was this the only thing? Did only the dispersal of workers weaken their structure?

The concepts of liberalism and democracy have a weak connection. Democracy emerges as the power of a large number of people, while liberalism was largely an elitist trend of supporters of political freedoms, which should not be used by the lower strata. Therefore, it was not the power of the liberals that gave the world universal suffrage. It is known that Otto von Bismarck used universal (male) suffrage against liberals. Previously, Napoleon III had done this in France. However, the growth of industry gave rise to the development of trade unions and parties of the Social Democratic type, and later of the Communists. They made up the structures that ensured the flourishing of democracy in the West, that is in North America and Western Europe. With their help, the lower strata received not only the universal right to elect and be elected, but also the opportunity to have their own deputies. At least, as was the case in the United States, workers organizations participated through their superiors in transactions with non-workers parties and candidates.

Some called these deals beneficial to the working class and they actually improved its material and political position. Others called them rotten opportunism, and the masses perceived them as less and less interesting maximalists. This reformism in old industrial countries was based on the will of the working people themselves and not on deception on the part of left-wing leaders, which was remarkably shown in the book Marxism and the Polyphony of Minds by Andrei Koryakovtsev and Sergei Viskunov[1]. However, everything has its limits.

The crisis of 1973-1982 and a neoliberal turn

The world revolution of 1968 should probably be considered as the peak of the onset of democracy and social reforms. Then, students, not yet subordinated to the logic of capital by virtue of their student status, as Herbert Marcuse noted, rose to the struggle.

Many professors in the USA, Great Britain, France or the Federal Republic of Germany remembered the amazing wave of political activity of those who previously spent more time at their desks. Students demanded and sought participation in the management of universities, freedom of assembly in them and other rights. However, it would be a mistake to see in this a culmination of the struggle of employees. They often did not know what to do with the radicalism of the young. This is remarkably reflected in the film directed by Elio Petri The working class goes to heaven (1972): the working people solved economic problems, while the young maximalists demanded much more from them. For some time, the two streams merged and this led to an increase in wages in France and other countries. Of particular importance here was the struggle against right-wing dictatorships in Portugal, Spain and Greece. The success of these revolutions was part of the general upswing of the end of the era of economic growth of the 1950-1979s, when much seemed possible.

Finally, society was satisfied with what was achieved and the revolutionaries got tired. How fatigue accumulated in them is perfectly shown in the modern film Something is in the Air (2012). They were disappointed in the workers. Notes of this disappointment are heard in John Lennons sad song Hero of the working class. It is not difficult to see it in the transition of the hero of the Paris barricades of 1968 the anarchist Daniel Cohn-Bendit to the ranks of adequately systemic environmental parties in France and Germany. Now in the cohorts of green there are many critics of the neoliberalism of the 2000s. The most striking figure here is Canadian journalist Naomi Klein, the author of the book Shock Doctrine that denounces neoliberalism. Though, this was later In the 1980s many parents were happy to see their wised up children in the ranks of office staff, among buyers of new cars, homes and aspiring to a corporate career. Hippies long hair was cut, and the recent criticism of parents for their commitment to the consumer society was forgotten.

The turnaround did not happen overnight. In the years 1973-1982 the world experienced an acute economic crisis. In the book Capitalism of crises and revolutions how formation epochs alternate, new long waves are born, restorations die and neomercantilism advances I dwell on its essence in great detail[2]. My colleagues from the Department of Political Economy and the History of Economic Science of the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics repeatedly pointed out in analytical reports that: the current crisis is very similar to that crisis. It was also emphasised in the report Donald Trump and the Economic Situation, where in 2016 it was shown how difficult it is to overcome such a crisis[3]. But the crisis of 1973-1982 according to the apt expression of the French historian Fernand Braudel was similar to a flood, and did not resemble the hurricane crisis of 1929-1933[4]. This was due to the fact that the state struggled against the manifestations, but not the causes of the economic crisis.

Almost a decade of economic crisis was enough to launch serious changes. The time had come for financial globalisation, the transfer of industry to the Third World countries and the growth of financialisation of Western economies. There industry contracted and the service sector expanded.

How the crises decide instead of us

People often look at democracy as a product of their own activity. In this sense, its development is perceived as the result of smart agitation and the rational organisation of collective interaction, and weakening as the result of incorrect actions. But history has laws and these laws are primarily economic laws. One of these laws concerns the change of long waves by Nikolay Kondratiev. These waves of development last for 2025 years and are replaced by particularly severe, major crises. Such crises appeared after the great crisis of the 14th century. However, their regularity can be traced from the 1770s, when under the influence of the great crisis, an industrial revolution took place in England.

The development of the economy of capitalism is wave-like and can also be called cyclical. The Great Crisis of 1973-1982 is on a par with the crisis of 20082020, to which the analytical report The Crisis of the Global Economy and Russia was devoted. The report was written under the guidance of the author and reflected his understanding of processes in the world economy[5]. This report was released in early June 2008. It contained a predictive analysis of events, which were subsequently confirmed in many ways, and most importantly confirmed the correctness of the concept of big crises, an area of my research. Such crises existed before. Their full range is: 1770-1783, 1810-1820, 1847-1850, 1873-1879, 1899-1904, 1929-1933, 1948-1949, 1973-1982 and 2008-2020. In Figure 1. their place in the development process can be seen.

Figure. 1 Large economic crises before and after the industrial turn of 1770-1783.

Rallies, demonstrations, strikes, occupation of campuses and slogans at lectures in the name of democracy everywhere and always all this remained in the past by the end of the crisis-era of the 1970s. The turn was painful, difficult and most importantly (it always happens) there have been such shifts in the global economy, and then in technology that weakened the old industrial regions of the West. The removal of industry to peripheral countries, the growth of office facilities in the old centres of capitalism meant a change in the sphere of social relations and ideas.

Neoliberal withering of democracy

Immanuel Wallerstein could write volumes about the 1968 revolution, but big business was the real winner. But its victory was dictated not so much by a clash with the lower strata as by failures during the years of the crisis of 1973-1982, which showed the need for fundamental changes in economic policy. Keynesianism has used up its historical resource.

With changes and for the sake of change neoliberal forces came to power, demanding the market to be unchained to complete freedom and the role of the state in regulation to be reduced. The main idea was simple: let the central banks rule with the help of monetary instruments. From the point of view of democracy, this means abandoning an extremely important sphere out of public control. Later, the United States will impose on countries the independence of central banks from the authorities, and Naomi Klein in the book The Doctrine of Shock will devote many pages to uncovering the negative consequences of such changes[6].

If central banks are independent or almost independent of the government, they are very little dependent on society. But did this mean that Western democracy shrank like the shagreen skin from Honore de Balzacs work only due to this? In the 1980-1990s the importance of trade unions declined and the importance of left-wing parties simply collapsed. Being very serious during the crisis of the 1970s, with the collapse of the USSR they turn into parties on the political sidelines or adopt neoliberal programmes. From that moment on, all influential forces can be divided into open liberals and those masquerading as socialists, social democrats and even communists. The Green are a special type of disguise, a very effective one. The masses lose confidence in parties and the parties often lose their mass origins. They do not lose touch with their clientele, they even develop it, but they cease to be agents of the lower strata in the political system. The party nomenclature is adjusted to the time politically and the lower strata economically.

All this undermines the foundation of the very bourgeois democracy in which the propertied classes were forced to take into account the demands of the masses, since these masses had strong agents. The masses themselves were their strength. With the decline in the industrial organisation of the lower strata, their role in public life also deminishes. Now they are required to vote in the elections, the procedural instance of procedural liberal democracy, having even lost the indirect and largely formal power of the demos. But this demos seems to betray its former self. It follows neoliberal ideas and forces, turning away from radical left or national-conservative preachers.

When procedures prevail

Without taking into account the fact that the majority of citizens of industrialised countries followed neoliberals, such as Margaret Thatcher in the UK and Ronald Reagan in the USA, it is impossible to understand the causes of the crisis of Western democracy and its basic structures. Of course, one can believe the version that the lower strata were insidiously deceived, blindly followed the masters of hypnotic phrases and therefore lost faith in their own strength, the strength of their structures and in the chance of democracy. However, the truth seems different: the working class abandoned democracy and the basic working structures following the temptation to leave its class.

In those days, it was about turning people into owners of state and municipal housing (privatisation), creating small business, corporate careers, or just working in an office, which was very different from working in a factory. The temptation included the ability to dress in business style, dine in cafes and restaurants, and generally increase consumption. Many were not concerned about democracy. They did not turn against it, but its transformation into procedural democracy was not stopped.

It is amusing, but the Western working class surrendered its democratic and highly conditional dictatorship to bourgeois political management almost as quickly as the working class in Soviet Russia in 1918-1919 in a deal with party nomenclature exchanged its democratic dictatorship for new opportunities. They also included vertical mobility for some: opportunities to go up the social ladder. As a result, in the West the model of liberal democracy was established, a procedural democracy and much more formal than the form that preceded it. And if the electorate could choose parties or candidates at will, they would still get the same result, since ideologically the elections had almost no alternative. And the liberal spirit of this democracy was most expressed in this.

From our partner International Affairs

[1] Koruakovtsev A. Viskunov S. Marxism i poliphonia razumov Ekaterinburg, Kabinetnyi uchenyi, 2016 p. 663.

[2] Koltashov V.G. (2019). Kapitalizm krizisov i revolutsii: kak smenyautsja formatsionnye epohi, rozdautsja dlinnye volny, umiraut restavratsii i nastupaet neomercantilizm, M.: RuScience.

[3] Report of the Department of Political Economy and the History of Economic Science of the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics Donald Trump i ekonomisteskaya situatsiya: strategiya kandidatov v presidenty i Vroraya volna krizisa v SSHA // Institute for globalisation and social movements. URL: http://igso.ru/trump_situation/ (publication date: 28.10.2016; reference date: 27.08.2018).

[4] Braudel F. Materialnaya tsivilizatsiya, ekonomica i kapitalizm XV-XVIII . Vol. III. Vremya mira .: Progress, 1992. p. 76-77.

[5] Report of the Institute for globalisation and social movements. (IGSO) Krizis globalnoy economiki i Rossiya // Institute for globalisation and social movements.. URL: http://igso.ru/world_crisis_and_russia/ (publication date: 09.06.2008; reference date: 28.01.2020).

[6] Klein Naomi. Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism M.: Dobraya kniga, 2009, p. 890.

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International Conflicts from the View of Trade Expectations Theory - Modern Diplomacy

Groupe Renault is creating the REFACTORY in Flins, the first European circular economy site dedicated to mobility. By 2030, it will employ more than 3,000 people in dedicated professions. The implementation of this industrial and commercial ecosystem will take place gradually between 2021 and 2024, replacing the production of new vehicles.

It will be based on a wide network of partners from all sectors and will revolve around 4 poles of activity, putting into practice the principles of the circular economy at each stage of the vehicle life cycle and mobility.

The circular economy model implemented in Flins will be based on a set of complementary and convergent loops, aimed at encouraging the use of a vehicle instead of its ownership; extending its life through maintenance; and reusing it or reusing its components for other uses, when other solutions are no longer possible.

To support this approach, the ReFactory will also include an incubator, open to start-ups, academic partners, large groups, local authorities and intrapreneurship, as well as a training center, backed by a university center, to promote know-how and accelerate research in the circular economy.

The ReFactory aims to achieve a negative carbon balance by 2030an objective in line with the Groups ambition to achieve carbon neutrality in Europe by 2050.

Between 2021 and 2024, the REFACTORY will be gradually rolled out around four divisions of activityRe-Trofit, Re-Energy, Re-Cycle and Re-Startthis will make it possible to support the entire life of the vehicle by acting on the main components of the circular economy (supply, eco-design, economy of functionality, maintenance, reuse, remanufacturing and recycling).

To ensure its competitiveness, this integrated circular economy ecosystem will rely on several assets at the Flins plant, which was originally built in 1952. The stamping, injection and sheet metal activities, but also the available surface area (237 hectares, 67 of which are currently built), the network of suppliers, accessibility via road connections, and above all the excellence of the industrial operational system (standardisation, manufacturing 4.0, ISO 14 001 and ISO 9 001 certifications, logistics hub, etc.) are all strategic levers for the implementation of the reconversion project.

The performance of the ReFactory will also relate to the ability to generate closed-loop supply flows with controlled costs (reuse, recycling for repair), and to develop new value-added skills (retrofitting, dismantling, fleet maintenance, preparation of batteries for the second life, etc.) based on the integration of the companys areas of technical expertise (reconditioning of second-hand vehicles, remanufacturing, recycling, batteries).

The transformation plan will be deployed gradually in stages between 2021 and 2024, starting in 2021 with the establishment of the Factory VO, (Used Car Factory) the transfer of Choisy-Le Rois remanufacturing activities, and the integration of an incubator dedicated to start-ups, partners and intrapreneurship.

RE-TROFIT: To extend significantly the life of vehicles. In a growing second-hand market, driven by the emergence of new modes of consumption that favor use rather than possession, Groupe Renault wants to bring together the expertise needed to extend the lifespan of vehicles and their uses, while preserving resources through efficient management of the flow of used parts and materials within the same site.

Groupe Renault plans to set up an 8,500 m2 Factory VO (Used Car Factory) in Flins, with the capacity to refurbish more than 45,000 second-hand vehicles per year, from September 2021. This entity will offer a simple, fast and cost-optimized logistics scheme thanks to industrial management in the factory, for the le-de-France commercial network (RRG, dealerships, Renault Occasions/RVO). From 2022 onwards, an extension will be envisaged over a wider geographical area within the Group and externally.

The creation of this Factory VO also aims to improve the quality of services and significantly reduce the turnaround time for second-hand vehicles (from 21 days on average to 6 days), between entry into stock and resale. The objective is to preserve the value of the product as much as possible and reduce the time the car is out of service.

The entity will thus offer a turnkey service for the sales network: optimized transport of vehicles, supply of spare parts (Re-Cycle Center), renovation, storage, production of photos and videos and their online availability. The service will include real-time monitoring of the renovation stages for the sales managers of the sales network.

Against a backdrop of tighter environmental regulations in cities (low emission zones, ban on diesel vehicles in 2024, then on gasoline vehicles in 2030 in Paris, for example), the Re-Trofit division wishes to capitalize on Groupe Renaults industrial structure and expertise in electric and gas technologies to develop an attractive retrofit offer (conversion of combustion engine vehicles to other less carbon-based energies).

Through the sales network, these conversions will primarily target professional customers (commercial vehicles) dependent on access to the urban centre for the continuity of their activities. The parts and materials resulting from this activity will also enrich the activities of Factory VO, as well as Re-Energy and Re-Cycle.

In the operation of mobility services, the ability to constantly maintain a fleet of vehicles in good condition is a determining factor in meeting customer expectations and avoiding an accelerated deterioration of the fleet. To meet this demand the division will work on developing new services (renewal, heavy repairs, etc.) to vehicle fleets and shared mobility players, such as the ZITY electric car-sharing service.

Following on from the manufacture of protective visors initiated as part of the health crisis, the division will also offer an additive manufacturing service using 3D printers already present on the site, for example, for parts that have become unavailable, for garages, private individuals or collectors of vintage cars.

To support the development of new solutions aimed at increasing the useful life of vehicles and to draw useful lessons from them, the Group will set up a test and prototyping centre for the durability and repairability of vehicles and materials, to enrich the design of future products and facilitate the improvement of vehicles during their life cycle.

RE-ENERGY: To offer solutions for the production, storage and management of green energies. Electric vehicles batteries are at the heart of the transformation of the automotive industry because of their potential applications. Optimizing the batterys life cycle is a crucial issue for the development of the sector and limiting its impact on the environment.

Between 2021 and 2030 alone, the second-life batteries sold by Groupe Renault will represent a capacity of more than 200 MWh per year, the equivalent of 4,000 full charges of a Renault ZOE. The ambition of the Re-Energy division is to bring the ecosystem of applications resulting from the electric battery and new energies to an industrial scale, and to strengthen Groupe Renaults position as a key player in the energy transition.

Groupe Renault has developed expertise in the repair of first-life batteries at a very early stage. At the heart of this expertise is the Flins plant, where a set of techniques and industrial processes for the repair of Renault electric vehicle batteries has been developed since 2011, before being distributed to some 20 battery repair centers in 17 countries.

While battery repairs will continue to be handled as close as possible to the customer, the Flins center aims to reach a capacity of 20,000 repairs by 2030, thanks to the development of an industrial structure, keeping this expertise on the site for the long term.

At the end of its first life in the vehicle and well before recycling, the battery provides an indispensable solution for the development of renewable and intermittent energies: electricity storage. New operating opportunities such as stationary storage make it possible to perpetuate the service that the battery offers. In this case, the battery makes it possible to integrate electricity from solar or wind power, on the scale of an individual house, a building, a recharging station or an industrial site, for example.

Groupe Renault has already set up several experiments that concretely illustrate the benefits of this approach:

In Porto Santo, thanks to second-life Renault ZOE batteries stationary storage reduces the islands dependence on fossil fuels, while encouraging the use of renewable energies.

As part of the European ELSA (Energy Local Storage Advanced system) project, the Group offers storage solutions for industrial and tertiary buildings in collaboration with other players.

Two very large-scale energy storage projectsAdvanced Battery Storage in France and Germany and Smart Hubs in the United Kingdomhave also been initiated with the aim of reducing the gap between electricity consumption and production and increasing the share of renewable energies in the energy mix.

The Group is also developing mobile energy storage applications. Reconditioned batteries have begun a second life on board cruise ships on the Seine in Paris (electrification of the Paris Yacht Marina fleet) and soon on board sailing cargo ships for transoceanic journeys (Neoline project). Second-life batteries are also used to operate refrigeration units on converted versions of Kangoo Z.E. and ZOE.

The second life market is booming today with the demand now greater than the supply as they are more affordable than new batteries. In this buoyant market, the Re-Energy division aims to:

strengthen the battery collection system within Groupe Renault and the sector;

capitalize on skills to prepare batteries for a second life;

develop and manufacture portable or mobile storage systems from second life batteries, in conjunction with partners.

Finally, from 2021, Groupe Renault will install a stationary energy storage device in Flins from electric vehicle batteries with a capacity of 15.5 MWh.

When they are at the end of their life, the batteries are systematically recycled. With the support of its subsidiary Indra for the collection and disposal of the battery, the Group has been relying since 2013 on a historic partnership with Veolia for the recycling of batteries. After their dismantling, mechanical and hydrometallurgical processes are combined to extract and recover the metals contained in the battery.

To accelerate the development of this sector, Groupe Renault has encouraged the collaboration of Veolia with the chemicals group Solvay. The two companies thus announced on 9 September the creation of a circular economy consortium aiming to mobilize the best technologies and mechanical and chemical skills, to transform metals into high purity raw materials directly usable in the production of new batteries.

Putting the lithium-ion battery into a circular economy scheme also helps make the electric vehicle more competitive. The battery gains additional value, thereby lowering the cost passed on to the buyer of an electric car.Within this division, Groupe Renault will also work on the development of maintenance and recharging services, the development of technical and supply solutions, dedicated to new energies (NGV, hydrogen), intended for individuals or local partners.

RE-CYCLE: To optimize the management of resources to support the ecosystem. The Re-Cycle pole will bring together activities allowing efficient management of the resource and its flows. Compared to other sectors, the automotive industry in Europe has high recycling and recovery rates for End-of-Life Vehicles (ELVs), as well as a high proportion of recycled materials in its new products.

Thanks to this new entity, the Groupwhich already incorporates an average of 30% recycled materials in its vehicles produced in Europewishes to go further by continuing to increase the proportion of recycled materials incorporated in the production of new vehicles, while reducing procurement costs and the impact on resources.

Suez and Groupe Renault co-own Indra, whose activity of recycling end-of-life vehicles (ELV) makes it possible to extract materials from them for recycling and reintegrate them into the production of new vehicles as well as parts for reuse by the continued in the after-sales network. A key player in the recycling of ELVs in France, Indra relies on a network of 400 demolition workers. In 2019, nearly 400,000 ELVs were treated in this way.

In addition to this activity, the conversion plan for the Flins site provides for the installation of a dismantling line from 2024, to capture additional volumes and increase the Groups capacity to source parts and materials in short loops. With an objective of 10,000 vehicles per year on average, this pole aims to be one of the main deconstruction sites in France and to develop expertise in the deconstruction of electric vehicles.

95% of the mass of vehicles and their batteries can be recycled or recovered: this European regulatory requirement was anticipated in 2007 and is applied by Groupe Renault to all vehicles sold worldwide. To achieve this GroupeRenault relies on an ecosystem of subsidiaries and partners in the field of recycling and recovery, which it intends to strengthen.

Thus, the parts and materials that compose end-of-life vehicles once dismantled can go through the stage of reuse, remanufacturing or recycling, to be reintroduced into vehicle mainte- nance and production (closed loop) or in other industries (open loop).

A pioneer in reuse, since 2012 Groupe Renault has offered a range of used parts (hood, fenders, optics, etc.) in its sales network in France, collected and selected from the Indra network.

Developed for more than 70 years by the (France) plant, remanufacturing sup- plies the after-sales circuit with components and more recently with electronic elements such as R-LINK tablets. This activity follows a strict industrial process: collection of used parts and components within the sales network, dis- mantling, cleaning, sorting, renovation and replacement of defective and wearing parts, reassembly and finally control.

Marketed under the name Renault Standard Exchange, these refurbished spare parts are offered at an average price 40% lower than that of a new part, while maintaining the same quality requirements. Far from being marginal, the standard exchange offer covers almost 70% of powertrain part numbers, up to 50% for ground link parts and is regularly extended to new families of parts. This is the only offer available on the market when serial production of the part has been discontinued.

Already established in Flins, Gaia, a Renault subsidiary, is responsible for qualifying and upgrading vehicles, parts and materials through recycling, repair and reuse channels. The material loops put in place by this subsidiary now allow the recycling of several closed- loop resources such as copper from electrical wiring, platinoid metals from catalytic converters or polypropylene from shields.

Groupe Renault has also more recently developed with partners the recycling of textile fibers from automotive fabric and seat belt production scraps in order to produce a textile intended for the interior trim of Renault ZOEs. The short loop organization (manufacturing and supply) reduces CO2 emissions by more than 60% compared to the fabric of the old ZOE from a standard manufacturing process.

Traditionally reserved for crankcases and other protective elements of the car, recycled synthetic materials were incorporated for the first time in the composition of interior components and exposed injection plastic parts. Renault ZOE is thus made up of 22.5 kg of recycled synthetic materials, an increase compared to the previous generation.

The strengthened coordination of these activities and their extension to other areas (ELVs, test or reformed vehicles, heavy goods vehicles, shared vehicle fleets, micro-mobility, etc.), will make it possible to capitalize on greater flows to supply the other divisions of the ReFactory (Factory VO, battery repair, etc.), and continue to increase the proportion of recycled or reused materials in new or used vehicles. This development will be supported by a logistics (physical and virtual) and commercial (digital marketplace) platform for efficient flow management.

RE-START: Promote innovation and knowledge sharing. The Re-Start division aims to promote and develop industrial know-how, but also to accelerate research and innovation in the circular economy.

It will host an incubator, as well as a training center and a university hub to strengthen the specialization of the ReFactory teams.

The Flins ReFactory will integrate an incubator open to external partners (start-ups, academic partners, large groups, local authorities, etc.) to develop or co-develop innovative projects around the circular economy. As a member of the Greentech National Incubator Network, this incubator has entered into discussions with the University Paris Sciences Lettres (PSL), which includes Mines Paris - PSL, Ecole Normale Suprieure - PSL, Chimie Paris - PSL, and Dauphine PSL.

To that end, it will include an in vivo experimentation area on industrial facilities (sheet metal islands, plastic injection, etc.), in collaboration with experts from different fields (vehicle architecture, materials, electric vehicle, energy, recycling, lean manufacturing ...).

It will also host the Center of Excellence for Advanced Manufacturing, for the prototyping of vehicles and the conduct of experiments around Industry 4.0 subjects such as 3D printing, predictive maintenance, retrofitting of production resources, or even automatic guided vehicles (AGV), and 5G.

Read more:

Groupe Renault creating first European factory dedicated to the circular economy of mobility in Flins - Green Car Congress

Wood fibre-based packaging alliance 4evergreen held its launch event named Perfecting circularity with fibre-based packaging yesterday (25 November).

It took place online and involved a panel debate with experts from the packaging sector, including Stora Enso (Finland), Huhtamaki (Finland), Mars (US), Nestl (Switzerland) and Smurfit Kappa (Ireland).

The event focused on the alliances plans to move forward in making the industry more circular and sustainable, with ambitious goals to increase the recycling rates of fibre-based packaging to 90 per cent by 2030.

Susanne Haase, Programme Director of 4evergreen, said: Fibre-based packaging is the most collected and recycled packaging material in Europe. Already today, we exceed the targets set for us by European legislation But being good should not stop us from getting better.

Virginijus Sinkeviius, EU Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, supported the initiative through a dedicated video address: The Circular Economy can put Europe back on its feet, and packaging is an important part of the new Circular Economy Action Plan, it commits to ensuring that less packaging waste is generated overall and that all packaging is reusable or recyclable in an economically viable way in 2030.

Kerstin Jorna, Director General at the European Commissions Department for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW) commented that DG GROW is exploring how each of the 14 identified industrial ecosystems can add to the 55 per cent emission reduction goal, and what the investment needs related to the contribution to the climate target are.

In order to reach the 2030 target, 4evergreen has laid out objectives that will help: working on circularity guidelines; establishing industry-wide recyclability evaluation protocol; publishing guidelines for improved collection and sorting in Europe; and driving innovations in areas increasing circularity.

The alliance was established by the Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI) in 2019, to promote the use of fibre-based packaging. Its members include brands such as Nestl, Sappi and Mets Board.

CEPI has been raising awareness of the benefits of fibre-based packaging in recent years. Earlier this month it released a decarbonisation manifesto that encouraged the EU to make recyclable raw materials, like high quality virgin fibre, more accessible to producers.

The rest is here:

4evergreen pushes for full circularity of fibre-based packaging by 2030 - Resource Magazine

The 5th Regional Forum gathered Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Euro-Mediterranean region on the occasion of the 25th Anniversary of the Barcelona Declaration to reaffirm their strong commitment to its values and principles and renew their commitment to enhance cooperation in the region in the interest of peace, stability, development, and shared prosperity.

The Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) in 2008 gave a new impulse to the Process through the establishment of an institutionalized framework with a unique governance model to promote regional cooperation, integration and dialogue in key areas. The Barcelona Process original baskets of Political and security partnership, Economic and financial partnership and Partnership in social, cultural and human affairs remain a valuable basis for cooperation in the Mediterranean region. The 2017 Roadmap for Action remains the comprehensive strategic framework for the work of the UfM.

This milestone Anniversary of this year has provided the opportunity to reflect on the past 25 years and look into the future with a renewed vision. The Ministers recognized the scale and nature of the current regional challenges and reaffirmed their support to the work of the UfM to find joint responses to the difficult situations we are confronted with in these days and age.

Peace and stability continue to be main objectives for the UfM members. The UfM can contribute to these goals in the Mediterranean region by creating, through dialogue and cooperation, a political environment that is conducive to the solution, in relevant fora and on the basis of agreed parameters, of the conflicts and the political tensions affecting members of the UfM. The need to strengthen efforts to solve conflicts and crises that are depriving the region from its right to peace and stability was emphasised.

In this context, all steps were encouraged that contribute to creating political horizons to achieve just and comprehensive Middle East peace and to relaunch effective negotiations to solve the Palestinian Israeli conflict on the basis of the two-state solution and in accordance with international law. It is important that both parties avoid decisions that can undermine trust, including the building of new settlements. The importance of upholding the historical status quo for the Holy Sites in Jerusalem, including with regard to the Hashemite custodianship, was recalled. The indispensable role of UNRWA and the need to support it politically and financially in order to allow it to continue to fulfil its UN mandate was also reaffirmed.

There was also expression of support for the UN efforts in the search of a political solution to the Libyan crisis on the basis of relevant UN resolutions and welcoming of the regional initiatives contributing to these efforts. The objective is to preserve the unity, sovereignty and

territorial integrity of Libya, to stop all foreign interference and achieve national reconciliation, sustainable peace and stability. In this regard, recent progress within the framework of the Joint Security Commission and the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum is encouraging and welcome.

The need to find a political solution to the Syrian crisis that preserves the territorial integrity of the country, restores peace and stability, and creates conditions for the safe, voluntary and dignified return of refugees, in accordance with UNSC resolution 2254, was also emphasised. Full support was expressed for United Nations Special Envoy Geir Pedersen and his efforts to facilitate progress within the Syrian-led Constitutional Committee under UN auspices. There were calls on all parties to engage in good faith in its work, and welcomed the convening of the fourth round in Geneva on 30 November 2020.

Concern is also high about the multiple consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. There is therefore general agreement on the need to intensify our efforts to contain the pandemic by strengthening cooperation on research and innovation, and exchanging information and scientific knowledge, notably with a view to ensure a global access to vaccines as well as to mitigate the impact on economic growth, employment and social cohesion. It is important to show solidarity and mobilize resources and capacities towards a sustainable post-pandemic recovery paving the way for the creation of more resilient societies and economies in the region.

This years Regional Forum highlighted the role that the civil society has been playing over 25 years of Euro-Mediterranean partnership. In this respect, the Anna Lindh Foundation, the only Euro-Mediterranean organisation gathering civil society actors of the whole Mediterranean Basin, is playing an important role for the promotion of intercultural dialogue. The Parliamentary Assembly of the UfM and ARLEM also have to continue to play their role respectively to reinforce inter-parliamentary cooperation and to amplify the voices of local and regional authorities and to promote the territorialisation of the Euro-Mediterranean sectoral policies.

Citizens of the region are increasingly exposed to large-scale disinformation, including misleading, and outright false information. It is important to raise awareness and enhance cooperation with relevant stakeholders in this field, including industry and online platforms, to fight disinformation and improve tolerance and strategic communication. Ministers also stressed the importance of fighting against terrorism, extremism and the culture of hate that seeks to divide us, and expressed solidarity against all acts feeding hatred. Ministers called for additional efforts in combating negative stereotyping, intolerance, culture of hate, stigmatization, discrimination and use of violence based on religion or belief and promote instead harmony and respect for the other.

Building on the experience of the past 25 years, the Ministers have recognised the need to prioritise the areas of action where the UfM can play a crucial role and provide for a comparative advantages and agreed to focus the UfMs work in the coming years on the following specific areas:

1. Environmental and climate action:

We need to step up our efforts to tackle root causes of climate change promoting sustainable, green, low-carbon and circular resource-efficient economies, and reverse the dramatic loss of biodiversity in the Mediterranean region. Therefore, we welcomed the initiative for an Action plan to make the Mediterranean a model sea by 2030 to be launched at the One Planet Summit.

2. Sustainable and inclusive economic and human development:

Fragmentation in the region has grown in the past year and the gap has been increasing between the countries in the Northern and the Southern shores. Efforts must be focused on the crucial employment challenges, mainly for young people, as well as on the important issue of investment, in order to tackle the very important challenges in this specific domain. We need to tap on the important human capital and the vast natural resources of our region to deploy its full potential. We need to increase trade exchanges, which will be key for the future of our countries, especially now that the COVID-19 pandemic has harshly hit us. Blue economy can also be an important driver as it has the capacity to encompass growth and sustainability in the Mediterranean basin. Thus, the UfM will intensify regional dialogue in this area and organise a 2nd UfM Ministerial on Blue Economy in Malta in 2021.

3. Social inclusiveness and equality as an essential element in the socio-economic development of the region:

In this regard, the importance to fully involve the younger generations, to empower women and promote gender equality, in terms of rights and opportunities, and to create space for civil society were particularly stressed.

4. Digital transformation:

Digitalisation is a crucial vehicle towards a smart, innovative and sustainable economic development, which will also facilitate trade interlinkages in the region and could become an essential tool to tackle youth unemployment.

5. Civil Protection:

The UfM Platform on Civil Protection should play a key role in the discussion of the common challenges and the concrete actions to develop within the Civil Protection Action Plan for strengthened Euro-Mediterranean cooperation on prevention campaigns, emergency response and crisis management.

Ministerial conferences will take place in the coming months on environment and climate action, sustainable blue economy and energy.

With these objectives in mind, the Ministers reaffirmed the importance to mobilise sufficient financial resources to enable the implementation of UfM labelled projects and reiterated their commitment to support the UfM Secretariat, including through more balanced and predictable contributions to its budget.

With the objective to foster a common Mediterranean identity and increase the visibility and ownership of regional cooperation, we declared the 28th of November as the Day of the Mediterranean. Coinciding with the date of the Barcelona Declaration, the Day of the Mediterranean will provide the opportunity to hold cultural events across the region with a view to strengthening ties, promoting intercultural exchanges and dialogue and embracing the diversity of the region.

Peter STANO(link sends e-mail)Lead Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy+32 (0)460 75 45 53

Lauranne DEVILLE(link sends e-mail)Press Officer for Foreign Affairs and Security+32 (0)2 29 92256+32 (0) 460 758 775

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UfM: Joint statement by the Jordanian and EU co-presidency on the Fifth Regional Forum of the Union for the Mediterranean - Jordan - ReliefWeb

By Jordan Bailey| The Maine Monitor

During the height of the protests over the police killing of George Floyd in May, Rose Barboza felt conflicted. She wanted to join the demonstrations but had a 4-year-old at her Saco home and was concerned about catching or spreading the coronavirus. Instead, Barboza began to consider another way to fight using her purchasing power.

Online directories popped up nationally, spotlighting Black-owned businesses and educating people about how seeking out these businesses can help, at the local level, reduce the racial wealth gap, support entrepreneurship and job creation for Black Americans, and send a message that representation matters.

But, companies in Maine remained largely off the lists. Maine is the nations whitest state, with nearly95% of its population identifying as white.

Barboza discussed this on a hike with her brother.

And then BAM! This idea came, Barboza said.

Two days later, on June 1, she launchedBlack Owned Maine, or BOM, a virtual directory of businesses in the state that are at least 50% Black-owned.

Barboza, a recent University of Southern Maine graduate with a degree in marketing and international business, had been furloughed from her job in the travel industry and was brainstorming ideas for her own venture. She wanted to build a website and considered opening a marketing agency.

I was like, Oh my gosh, this is all of that in one thing, Barboza said. I finally found my niche. I finally found the thing that I can focus my energy on and its something that I know about already. I can list 100 (Black-owned businesses) off the top of my head.

She enlisted the help of her friend, Jerry Edwards, a Portland music producer who goes by the name of Genius Black. The directory swelled.

Black Owned Maine now lists more than 250 businesses, nonprofits and contractors; 14,600 Instagram followers; and a podcast. Barboza said events and a clothing line are in the works.

The group also raised $50,000 in four months, and began awarding innovator grants for listed businesses looking to rebrand and family grants for households struggling to pay bills because of the pandemic. Barboza, who had to return to work July 1, was able to quit her job in October to work on the site and its projects full time. Now she is looking to help build online presences for micro-businesses that may not have websites.

While a few question whether the directory is necessary, supporters say highlighting Black-owned businesses benefits the states economy and enables people to counteract some economic racial disparities.

Barboza, who is of mixed race and grew up in Lewiston, said Black businesses tend not to be part of the mainstream, often do not come up high in internet searches and sometimes cannot afford to advertise on traditional platforms. Giving them exposure in the directory helps broaden their customer bases and gets consumers thinking more consciously about their spending decisions.

More: Race discussions need to be part of Maine legislation, report says

Rebeccah Geib, an ultra-runner, credits Black Owned Maine with helping her find The Exercise Design Lab in Bar Harbor, where she lives. Jacques Newell Taylor opened the business in 2019 after running his own exercise studio in Los Angeles for 15 years. Taylor specializes in designing customized exercise programs that integrate neuroscience to help improve brain health and athletic performance.

Geib was surprised she had never heard of the business, especially because it aligns so well with her lifestyle, values and needs as an athlete.

How was it possible that as an athlete and just an overall fitness nut, I had no idea that this business even existed, and I had no idea who Jacques was? she wrote in an email, noting that Bar Harbor has a small year-round community.

Geib, who is white, said its not just the physical gains shes made that keeps her coming back to The Exercise Design Lab, its the conversations she has with Taylor about race and community.

I train with Jacques because its one of the most enriching experiences Ive ever had, she said, and without Black Owned Maine, who knows how long it would have been before I discovered (him).

Geib said she always thought she was a person who supported racial justice, but realized while attending a Black Lives Matter rally that showing up at a protest was not enough: she needed to take action.

Black Owned Maine is now this tangible resource to use in order to take a step toward being an ally, she said.

One challenge Taylor has faced is the independent mindset locals have about exercising: they hike, bike, run and go to the gym, he said, but are not as adventurous when it comes to trying a new approach.

But being on Black Owned Maine has already gained him four clients in addition to Geib. They too had been to a Black Lives Matter rally and decided to follow up. They found The Exercise Design Lab on the site, checked out the program and were intrigued.

Now theyre all here, every single one of them, Taylor said. I was moved in many ways that people who dont have to, actually made a conscious effort … to support Black-owned businesses.

Being listed on the site also has led to conversations that were prickly and uncomfortable with a few other clients who said they do not consider race when making decisions about products and services, and questioned how drawing attention to race is helpful.

But Im OK with that, he said.

Pointing tostudiesshowing thatdiverse teams outperformnon-diverse teams in sports, academics and business, Taylor said part of his mission is to help communities recognizethe idea of diversity is not just a nice thing to do, or even just the "right"thing to do; its the thing to do if we really do want to push ahead and prosper, and have opportunities for future generations.

He sees the directory as especially important for a state like Maine.

This idea that you have this website, this listing that is saying, Hey look, weve got some diversity here, is going to be really important to attracting other people of different backgrounds to come and say, Well they can do it, maybe I can do it. Maybe theres some opportunity there.

Genius Black, who grew up in Texas and attended Bowdoin College in Brunswick, echoed this in a recent BOM podcast.

Black Owned Maine as a directory and a resource and as a brand is also helping the state of Maine stand up and represent itself as a place thatdoeshave people of color,doeshave Black people,doesconsider diversity, he said. Were going to bring money to this economy; people who wouldnt have felt comfortable coming here and spending their dollars and voting with their dollars.

Taylor said hes looking forward to connecting with other Black business owners in the state through events or meetings hosted by BOM. Hes already used the resource to find and visit another Black business on Mount Desert Island: the Quietside Cafe in Southwest Harbor.

More: Seacoast Black Lives Matter leader urges Exeter board to watch biases

Ultimate Car Care in Portland is also listed on the site. Its owner, Joe Kings, said hes pleased theres a directory to help Black businesses connect. He was part of a group that attempted to start a Maine Black business alliance about 20 years ago that never went anywhere.

We met in meetings and talked about it, but we just never could get it off the ground. So we just walked away from it, he said. But Im very proud of (BOM) being out there now.

Kings said he has been involved in many projects over the years dedicated to helping Black-owned or minority-owned businesses stimulate the economy and thrive. Ultimate Car Care has funded Portlands Juneteenth celebrations for 23 years.

He couldnt tell if being listed on the site has brought in more business because hes always been busy. He said he has a customer base that extends to Augusta and beyond and is often booked three weeks out.

Weve been doing this for about 25 years, and people just kind of know where to go, he said. Its hard to say (whether being listed on BOM has had an effect) because it just never stops.

Shawn Garner of Lewiston said highlighting successful Black businesses like Kings is important to inspire young Black entrepreneurs who may be surrounded by negative influences like he was, growing up in a high-crime area of Florida. Almost four years ago he ended up staying in Maine after what was supposed to be a short visit. The people he was traveling with left him behind.

When I came up here, I didnt know heroin was as big as it was, and I dont do (hard) drugs because Im an athlete, he said. He had laced a blunt with heroin. I wanted to fight him, and so he told me to catch a bus back to Florida.

Garner had no money for the trip so he started working at Hannaford in Gardiner, and for a while lived at Trinity Mens Shelter in Skowhegan. During that time, Garner kept telling himself he could do better, be better. So he decided to start his own business.

Outside of his various day and night jobs working security at bars in Portlands Old Port, as a manager at Hannaford and now as a FedEx driver he has built a clothing design business,Upstylish, specializing in shirts with inspirational quotes, and now face masks.

Garner mainly advertised by word of mouth, handing out business cards and wearing his T-shirts to the gym or his security jobs. When Barboza heardhis story, she asked him to join Black Owned Maine and is now helping him find stores that will carry his clothing.

Garner said he started Upstylish to show people who grew up in situations like his that there are options outside of crime. He sees Black Owned Maine as furthering that mission.

A lot of people from my neighborhood were either selling drugs or killing people or robbing people, he said. Having the website of Black-owned businesses of Maine can show a lot of young Black entrepreneurs that … you can make money other ways, by being an entrepreneur, having a rap career, anything that youre good at.

Everybodys born with a gift. Thats what Black Owned Maine does. It teaches young Black entrepreneurs to thrive in their own gifts.

Another successful business listed on Black Owned Maine is Mogadishu Business Center and Restaurant in Lewiston. Its owner, Shukri Abasheikh, came to the United States from Somalia, where she had her own store, but lost it with her home during a civil war. She lived in Atlanta, then moved to Lewiston in 2002 with a wave of Somali arrivals.

Tensions were high that year. Then-mayorLaurier Raymond wrote an open letter asking Somali people to stop comingand said resettling them was straining the citys resources. Awhitesupremacistgroupprotestedin the city. At the time, Abasheikh defended herself and her fellow Somalis.

I say No, we do not come for welfare, we come for work, we come for peace, we come for education, she said. My dream is I work and my children get education.

While obstacles remain, there has been an outpouring of support for immigrants in the last 18 years, andstudiesshowthe economic benefits they brought to the area.

In 2006, Abasheikh was able to open the Mogadishu store after working as a high school janitor and at L.L. Bean. She has put the struggles of her early days in Lewiston behind her.

Everybody (likes) me, she said. They call me Mama Africa, Mama Shukri. We cook Somali food, we cook Somali tea. They come in, Black and white everybody … (Theyre) happy, they try the food, I explain the food, they buy.

Abasheikh said directing support on Black businesses seemed unnecessary to her, especially as businesses with owners of all races are struggling.

Everybody needs support, not only Black businesses, she said. When (the coronavirus came) everybody (slowed) down, a lot of stores closed, Black and white, and everybody needs help.

Barbazo and Genius Black agree.

Thats something we keep pushing every day, Barboza said. Small business, whether Black-owned or not, is the driving force of the economy, especially here in a small state.

Barboza is compiling a directory of resources for the site that she hopes will be accessed by anyone, regardless of race, who wants to open or grow a business in the state.

By teaching people to focus on local Black business, were teaching them to focus on local business in general, Genius Black added. Black Owned Maine is really about supporting the economy of Maine.

But data shows the pandemic is hitting Black people especially hard. In June, Maine had the highest racial disparity in COVID-19 cases, with Black residents contracting the virus at 20 times the rate of white residents. While Black Mainers made up less than 2%of the population, they accounted for more than 22% of the positive cases. Most of those cases came fromimmigrant communitieswhere it was more common for people to live in crowded apartments without the ability to isolate, and to work in front-line jobs.

Now, with cases spiking throughout Maine, that disparity has dropped, but Black people are still affected at a disproportionate rate. As of Nov. 20, they made up 11% of COVID-19 cases in the state.

The economic impacts of the pandemic also have been greater and persisted longer for people of color, James Myall of the left-leaning Maine Center for Economic Policy,reported.

Based on his analysis of the latest U.S. Census and Maine Department of Labor data released Oct. 20, Myall found that different racial groups in Maine started with low unemployment before the pandemic, but unemployment among the Black workforce showed the greatest increase, peaking at about 30% in May, compared to 15% for the white unemployment rate. In August, 15% of the Black workforce was still unemployed compared to 6%of the white workforce.

A recent survey of immigrant business owners conducted by ProsperityME, a nonprofit dedicated to helping immigrants and refugees in Maine achieve financial stability, raised some red flags for its executive director, Claude Rwaganje.

Of 250 immigrant businesses the organization tried to contact many Black-owned only 125 were reachable. Of the 125 respondents, 60% did not apply for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, and Rwaganje said few applied for Maine Economic Recovery grants. He cited lack of information or assistance, language barriers, or incomplete record keeping and licensing as barriers to applying for pandemic relief.

Small Business Administration dataon PPP loans awarded through Aug. 8 is not complete when it comes to the race of recipients. Only about 2,500 of the 25,279 grant recipients listed answered the optional question on race. Of those that did, only 11, or 0.4%, indicated they were Black.

Im concerned that the fact that the majority were not able to submit a rapid response or recovery grant request, Rwaganje said. That is a warning for me, to see how theyre going to survive beyond this pandemic.

ProsperityME plans to conduct a more comprehensive survey to understand the impacts of the pandemic on Black immigrant businesses.

COVID impacts aside, many who use Black Owned Maines directory are looking to support Black businesses as a way to counteract some broader racial disparities that persist.

Something that gets overlooked is that its not just about stopping a bad thing from happening, Genius Black said. Its about counteracting the bad things that have been happening.

In Maine, more than 53% of Black children lived in poverty compared to about 15% of white children in 2017, and only one-quarter of Black people own their own homes, compared to three-quarters of white people. Black Mainers are six times more likely to be incarcerated than white Mainers, and Black students are 2.4 times more likely to be suspended from school in Maine than white students, according to another report by Myall.

What we find about why people support Black Owned Maine and think about supporting companies like ours is that its a way to protest, said Genius Black. Its a way to say, Im going to use my resources, Im going to use whatever I have to (make) change. The economys going to flow regardless, so Im going to make sure that its flowing through Black folks.

Jordan Bailey (@jrdnbly) is a freelance journalist specializing in criminal justice and the environment.

The Maine Monitor is published by The Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, a nonpartisan, nonprofit civic news organization based in Augusta. The organization's public-facing website is http://www.themainemonitor.org.

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Online directory aims to help Black businesses thrive in nations whitest state - Seacoastonline.com

"We know that capitalizing on the river could bring economic impact to Cochrane through visitation, business development and the visitor economy," Oucharek said.

COCHRANE A presentation to Cochrane council Monday (Nov. 23) presented a new and innovative way to potentially boost tourism and the local economy,

Executive director of Cochrane Tourism Jo-Anne Oucharek and Surf Anywhere president Neil Egsgard spoke at the regular council meeting discussing the feasibility of developing a river wave park on the Bow River.

Establishing a river wave park has been the number one priority for the Cochrane Tourism Association, Oucharek said, because it can build on an existing asset to create a one-of-a-kind tourist destination.

"We know that capitalizing on the river could bring economic impact to Cochrane through visitation, business development and the visitor economy," Oucharek said.

A feasibility study was conducted to understand the economic, community and cultural impact of creating a river wave park in Cochrane.

A location by River Avenue was deemed the best area to create a park. The area was chosen because the eroding river banks can be restored and the river naturally splits in two. The dog park in the area would not be affected.

The total cost of the project with contingency is estimated to be about $9.9 million.

Egsgard noted the biggest reason communities are looking at projects of this nature are the proven economic impacts they have. Globally wave tourism is valued at around $50 billion each year.

"A good wave water parks shows an economic impact of over a million dollars a year," Egsgard said. "You'll get a line up out there in the middle of winter because people love the feeling of the sport. They love riding waves and they love surfing."

Egsgard said the economic impact of the park comes down to three main factors The water trail allowing people to float through a section of Town leading to the river wave park, the park itself and the draw of people to the facility and surrounding area.

The feasibility study projected the park would generate about $1,654,000 each year based on 30 per cent capacity fully repaying the investment in around three to seven years. If the proposed park reached 100 per cent capacity it would potentially generate $5,515,000 a year. Egsgard said they estimate around 26,500 tourists would visit the resource each year spending around two hours each on the waves. These calculations were based on having two active 10-metre waves active from March to November.

Egsgard noted these numbers do not include the potential additional spending from water trail users, spectators, events, new businesses and high-income earners coming to or moving to Cochrane.

"It has a substantial economic impact," he said. "It creates a unique and new tourism opportunity that provides some diversification for our economy and draws people into Alberta."

Egsgard added there are no competing waves in the area, aside from a small wave park in Kananaskis and parks in Oregon and Idaho.

"It is a new opportunity for us to create a really high-quality recreational resource that is going to draw people to both use it and spectate," Egsgard said. "Alberta is not known as a surfing destination, but that can change."

Egsgard added the project has received support from MLA Peter Guthrie and MP Blake Richards.

Now that the feasibility study has been completed the project is focussed on building political, public and organizational support, paired with locating funding support and partners.

While the project is in the early stages, Mayor Jeff Genung praised the concept and said it has merit and the potential for long term positive economic impacts in Cochrane.

Theyre a very passionate group and theyre driven. Theyve done a lot of homework on this, Genung said. I could see this being a really good fit for our community.

He described the park as an intriguing idea and the focus is now on building community knowledge and feedback on the project.

Community support is very important. It does affect some nearby residents, Riviera and River View, Genung said. Im sure everybody is going to have a say on what they think should happen with the river. Everyone here is I know very passionate about the river.

Councillor Marni Fedeyko praised the project and the positive impact it could potentially have on the community. She noted it could serve as a way to help people safely and legally access the river.

"I know there are a lot of residents from the Jumping Pound Creek area that have noticed, especially this year with COVID, an influx of people going out and splashing in the creek bed and not being very happy because obviously it's not a designated area for this to happen," Fedeyko said. "I kind of see this as a win for that as well. Because it's bringing people into the correct area and utilizing it for the right purpose."

Coun. Tara McFadden noted that neighbouring communities need to be consulted if the project movesforward because of the potentialimpacts it could have on the community.

"The challenge for this from what I see is on the community support," McFadden said. "Adding 16,000 excited visitors and making it ... An annual and major festival site it completely changes the character."

Oucharek noted they have reached out to all community associations in Cochrane but have yet to receive any replies.

The project requires further consultation with the public, stakeholders and government officials before returning to council to make a decision on moving forward. After this step, an engineering pre-feasibility report and conceptual layout at an estimated cost of $42,000 would take place, followed by a preliminary engineering study costing about $571,000.

The information was accepted by council with further discussion and analysis anticipated in the future.

Link:

Cochrane Tourism explores the potential economic benefits of river wave park - Cochrane Today

The Palestinian Authoritys decision to resume security coordination with Israel following a six-month suspension may indicate looming fundamental changes in the relationship between the two sides, in which the former is expected to make more concessions to the latter, according to analysts.

The resumption of relations comes at a time when the region has experienced a geopolitical shift, largely due to the recent normalisation deals between Israel and a number of Arab countries.

The PA announced the suspension of the coordination policy in May, in response to Israels plans to annex more land in the West Bank. It said it froze contact with Israel on civil affairs and security matters, and withdrew Palestinian security forces from the suburbs of occupied Jerusalem and Area C of the occupied West Bank.

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On 17 November, the PA resumed security coordination with Israel without indicating if it had made any gains in return. In a post on Twitter, the head of the PAs General Authority of Civil Affairs, Hussein al-Sheikh, described the PAs move as a "victory", which led many Palestinians online to respond with mockery.

The development raises many questions about the benefit of resuming the practice without having achieved any political goals, as it was halted ostensibly to be used as a pressure card. It also begs the questions: how did the PA return to normalisation with Israel, when it was recently rejecting the Arab deals? And would the PA have been able to continue with the suspension of bilateral contact with Israel, or is it inextricably linked to the occupying power?

Nablus-based professor and analyst Abd al-Sattar Qassem believesthat Palestinians were aware that the suspension in security coordination would be temporary.

"We understand that the PA is an agent of the occupation and it cannot leave this role because it would lose its privileges, he told Middle East Eye.

We are fully aware that security coordination cannot stop completely because it justifies its [the PAs] existence, he added. "The leaders of the PA have privileges, interests and wealth, and therefore there will be no compromise of self-interest for the sake of popular interest."

Qassem believes that the PAs announcement was likely to include more concessions, which would serve Israels plans to continue its illegal land grabs and settlement expansions.

"Israel will heighten its procedure of imposing a fait accompli on the Palestinians, which is coming after it managed to take control of the land, he said.

One of the immediate indicators of a major imminent PA concession has come in the dossier of the 4,500 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails. In an interview with the New York Times, Qadri Abu Bakr, of the PAs Prisoners Affairs Commission, said there was a proposal to change the PAs policy on payments to political prisoners. He said that the prisoners stipends would be altered based on the needs of their families and their social conditions.

'We understand that the PA is an agent of the occupation and it cannot leave this role because it would lose its privileges'

-Abd al-Sattar Qassem, analyst

The issue of PA payments has long been a file on the table between previous PA-Israel negotiations. However, the United States under Trump had since 2018 been financially squeezing the PA due to pressure from Israel and its lobbyists in Congress, cutting off millions of dollars in monetary aid, including over PA payments to political prisoners.

Israel, too, introduced its own punitive financial measures, such as enforcing a new military order in the occupied West Bank which sanctionedbanks that processed payments to prisoners and their families, and holding accountable anyone directly or indirectly involved in the transactions, including bank employees, as liable to face a seven-year prison sentence and/or a large fine.

Despite intensified diplomatic reconciliation efforts between the Fatah-ruled PA and Hamas in the besieged Gaza Strip, including through recent meetings in Beirut and Istanbul, the resumption of security coordination was considered a blow at alocal level.

A number of Palestinian factions expressed their rejection of the PAs move. Hamas said it considered it a "stab" to reconciliation efforts, and demanded that the PA backtrack on its decision. Meanwhile, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) characterised it as a "disregard" of the gravity of Israeli settlement projects targeting the Palestinian people.

Some have asked the question: is the PAs return to security coordination a prelude to resuming negotiations with Israel at the expense of internal Palestinian reconciliation?

According to political analyst Jihad Harb, the reverse in PA policy does not necessarily mean an immediate return to formal negotiations between the PA and Israel, but it could indicate that there may be a political process in the works.

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He told MEE he believedit includedthe PA awaiting a new direction under the incoming US administration, which has made statements about a different approach to the Palestinian-Israeli issue, and a withdrawal from President Donald Trumps "Deal of the Century".

"These statements are encouragement for a return to a political track, said Harb.

Despite the PAs rejection of recent normalisation deals between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrainand Sudan, and the withdrawal of its ambassadors from the three countries, its return to security coordination is a tacit acquiescence, analysts said.

The Palestinian Authority is not looking to clash with Arab countries. When the PA makes political moves or needs financial support, it turns to them, said Harb.

Ramallah-based economic affairs researcherJaafar Sadaqaexplained that the Palestinian economy was facing grave risks due to Israels continued withholding of PA tax funds, which he believedwas a primary driver in the PAs decision to resume security coordination.

In a Twitter post on 19 November, announcing the return of the coordination policy, Sheikh (thehead of the PAs General Authority of Civil Affairs)said thatthe transfer [of] all financial dues to the #PA was agreed upon.

According to Sadaqa, 2020 saw the Palestinian economy have its worst ever year, and the PA was nearing a declaration of its inability to fulfill its obligations towards its civil employees, as well as suppliers of goods and services.

'The Palestinian Authority is not looking to clash with Arab countries. When the PA makes political moves or needs financial support, it turns to them'

- Jihad Harb, analyst

Israel seized PA tax funds at the beginning of the spread of Covid-19 in the West Bank and the PAs imposition of a state of emergency, leading to a major decline in local revenue collection and other direct repercussions on various economic sectors.

Sadaqa said that the Palestinian economy was expected to deflate by 7-14 percent depending on whether the pandemic crisis continuedto worsen on the local level.

"Restoring tax funds means that about $1bn will be pumped into the Palestinian economy at once, which will lead to a large and rapid recoveryand will reflect the steep decline of the economy in Palestine, he said.

Since its establishment in 1993, the Palestinian Authority has attempted to build a rentier economy running mainly on tax funds collected by Israel and then returned to the PA, constituting 60 percent of the its total revenue.

The conditions imposed on the Palestinian economy and its dependency on Israel were agreed upon in the 1994 Paris Protocol, signed by the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and Israel.

"The PAs loss of tax funds, its most important financial resource, means entering a major crisis and a partial deficit for the period of fulfilling its obligations, or going into total deficit, which would have been expected during the next two months had the tax crisis not been resolved," said Sadaqa.

The tax funds have become increasingly important since the start of 2020, with the suspension of US and international aidand a decrease in assistance from Arab countries, he added.

Today, it has become impossible for the PA to dispense with the tax funds.

Activists on the ground say they expect the return of security coordination to translate into an intensified effort by PA security forces to crack down on dissent and opposing political expression. They expect the PA to carry out widespread arrests and to monitor and police online speech more closely.

On 19 November, a large number of PA forces raided the home of prominent and infuential Palestinian activist Nizar Banat in the town of Dura, in Hebron. His arrest came hours after he posted a video on his Facebook page expressing his rejection of the PA move, and mocking Sheikhs comments on the return of security coordination.

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"Security coordination means exchanging information, and this cannot be stopped unless all [PA] security agencies are dissolved, Banat said in the video.

Suhaib Zahda, a Palestinian activist close to Banat, told MEE that the security forces refused to reveal Banats whereabouts for 48 hours, before transferring him to the detention centre in the city of Jericho.

We contacted sources within the security forces and confirmed that Nizar's arrest came in response to a complaint submitted by Hussein al-Sheikhagainst him, said Zahda.

Lawyers for Justice, a Ramallah-based legal office following Banats case, said in a statement that the Public Prosecution in Hebron had carried out the arrest on charges of "defaming the authority"under the controversial Electronic Crimes Law, based on the video he published.

Zahda said he believedthe indicators of the political atmosphere were leaning towards a PA campaign of arrests and silencing of political activists in the coming phase, in order to block any criticism of the PA, particularly on the issue of security coordination.

More here:

What did the PA gain for resuming security coordination with Israel? - Middle East Eye